DIY: Table Numbers

A simple DIY project that I completed a while ago: making the numbers for the tables.

Materials:

1. (18) 5"x7" wood frames
2. Spool of 1/4" red ribbon
3. Turquoise cardstock
4. Tan cardstock
5. Glue stick
6. Printer

This project is pretty straightforward, so I figure that not too many details are needed.

After giving the frames to Chris to drill the holes in the top parts of the frame for the ribbon to go through, I first made the backing.  

Using a simple floral image, I printed full-size pages of the image onto the turquoise cardstock and trimmed the paper to the needed 5"x7" size.  

Then I used Publisher to create the image on the tan cardstock, selecting a plus-shaped flourish - which I made red in color-and overlaying the numbers in the Captain Howdy font.  The size for these is 4"x6" so that there would be about 1/2" of the blue peeking out as the border.

Cut the pages, and glue them onto the blue - trying my best to center them and only mildly failing towards the end. Once dry, pop the whole deal into the frame.

After that, the harder part: adding the ribbon.  I found that it was easier to do the ribbon if I left the backing of the frame off. It also took a bit of wriggling to get the ribbon through the 1/4" holes and then some adjusting to get the ribbon to tie well enough.

Pretty simple, but it did take a few hours all-told to complete:

I made more than eight, but I was too lazy/demotivated to take them ALL out of the box for the photo.

Hapy New Year!

As promised, with the new year's arrival, I am back in the saddle of wedding planning already.

And, this year, when the clock struck midnight, I had one thought:
This is the year I am getting married.

Although, because he had to work, Chris could not be with me on New Year's Eve, my thoughts were with him just the same as the 2011 was ushered in as the year when he and I will wed.

On that point, I find myself once again amazed to realize that there is/are
4 1/2 Months until the wedding
OR
128 days.

To me, this means that now, more than ever, it's buckle-down time on the planning.

Thankfully, we have nearly all of the major pieces nailed down.

• Venue: Check!
• Caterer & Menu: Check! (Yes, we had our *real* tasting, and it was de-lic-ious! I'll write a post on that later)
• Hotel for Guests: Check!
• Officiant: Check!
• Photographer: Check! (Had a meeting that I still need to post about!)
• Videographer: Check!
• Florist: Check!
• DJ: half-Check! (We're just waiting on some confirmation)
• Invitations: Check! (They arrived...again, something I have failed to blog about yet!)
• Wedding Dress: Check! (It's been ordered, and should be here soon!)
• Groom's Clothes: Check! (Now it's just left to decide on the black suit or the grey suit.)
• Bridesmaid's Dresses: Selected, will order soon!
• Wedding Bands: Selected, will order soon!
• Cake: Baker selected, just need to choose a cupcake bakery!

I'm sure there's more, but you get the idea.  The only major piece that we need to make sure we do is to rent all the tables, chairs, and etc.  That's the last big slice that absolutely, 100%, MUST happen or the wedding will be a disaster.

Anything else that isn't done can be done without.  Not that I have any intention of going without all the small things, and details, and everything; I'm just trying to lower my stress level by reminding myself that, yes, all the things that must be done are in process.

Judgy McJudgerson

Recently, I realized something very disheartening and shameful about myself.

Looking through Facebook over these past weeks and even months, I notice how many of my friends have become engaged, married, or parents. When people have these things happen, I am happy for them and excited for whatever new beginning they embark upon. I do, also, as a person who plans to make a living based on what people do and how they operate, find myself eminently curious about these things that are happening to my friends and acquaintances.

This is not the disheartening thing I learned. Maybe it can be a little voyeuristic at times, but it is positive and natural, to my way of thinking.

This realization came when someone posted photos of her recent wedding. I found myself judging, much to my dismay.

I looked at some photos and questioned to myself why the flowers, dress, venue, and etc were chosen. And not in a way that I would call inherently kind. To be clear, nothing about this wedding was outrageous; it did not veer widely off the beaten path. Most of what was photographed seemed traditional and reasonable.

And still, somewhere in me, I decided to judge.

Even if the dress had been categorically ugly (which I am not saying it was), why in the world should I care?

Once i noticed myself judging, I continued on looking through the photos (damn, that curiosity!), all the while purposefully and intentionally forcing myself out of judging.

Even this made me feel so tiny.

There is no reasonable purpose to judging someone else's joyous day - particularly when all those photographed seemed happy.

I wanted to share this revelation because I know I am not the first and only person to judge. That doesn't excuse me, by any means; rather, it makes me fallible. Something which I am all to aware of.

I also realize that this means that it is likely that, when Chris and I post photos of our wedding, there will be some people I know who will look at the photos and judge something about us and our day.

My job is to, now realizing that, accept it and let it go. Not an easy feat for me, by any means.

My job is also to acknowledge my own flaw in being so quick to judge and - even though it is sad that I must do so - remind myself when I look at someone else's choice: "[Person] seems happy. And that is enough reason to be happy for [Person]."

Hopefully I can grow from this.

Better Inspiration

So, I found a website that makes it easy to make inspiration boards, particularly for weddings.

And, as evidenced below, I suck at trying to do it on my own.

Thus, I have spent more time than I should working on the below:

The first one is just meant to give a better sense of the overall colors I want, and the second is intended to be more like general inspiration.

I love the idea of something rustic, shabby-chic, with interest, and kind of modern, with surprising and delightful details.

Thoughts?

Comments?

Results and Photos

Clearly, I have not posted in the past few days.

Why?

Good question.

As a graduate student, I have been applying for internships -- all with the military (Navy and Air Force). Results came out on Friday morning. I did not get an internship. As you might guess, this news sucked....correction: sucks.

Thus, I have not been doing much wedding planning as of late.

The only thing I have been doing much of is having a pity party.

What has happened, however, is that just over a week ago Chris and I had an engagement photo session. Pretty normal for a couple planning a wedding. What was unusual was that we had eight photographers.

Huh?

Yeah.

Eight.

Chris is into photography (www.chrislangsdale.com) and is part of a MeetUp group for photography enthusiasts. Many of the group members are new professionals who are looking to build their photography business. We took advantage of that. We invited group members to join us at a public location (a park) and get an - apparently rare - opportunity to add an engagement session to their portfolio.

So.

Eight photographers, all with different levels of knowledge, skill, and equipment.

No guarantees on the quality of the photos, but the only cost was an afternoon.

We had a blast.

I felt like a rock star.

This is what it looked like to an outside observer:

But that's only four photographers.

Chris isn't super comfortable with having his photo taken...but I am. It was insane, and fascinating.

I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Here are some of the favorites among the ones we have received from the photographers so far:

(Above photos by Victoria Medina)

(Above photos by Danielle Stolman)

Location, Location, Location

I apologize for not putting this up yesterday, as I meant to, but the day ended up going longer than I thought it would.

Yesterday, I went with my parents (read: father, stepmother, mother, and mother's fiance) to view Rush Ranch as a potential wedding venue. Chris and I had visited together several weeks ago - in the pouring rain - and had absolutely loved it.

Rush Ranch is part of the Solano County land trust here in Northern California, essentially a private park with upwards of 2,000 acres to its credit.

We loved it, and so wanted the parents' thumbs-up, because it is beautiful, isolated, rustic, fun, and youthful. It also has lots of benefits like few requirements - e.g. no 'required' caterers, and relaxed time limits - a guest house that sleeps 5-7 comfortably, a projector and projector screen, indoor spaces, outdoor spaces, great photo op areas, and more.

So, taking the parents there, I was nervous and hopeful for their approval - a similar feeling to the one I had when I was first introducing them to Chris.

Here is some of what we saw:

I have tons more photos, but I think this gives a good sense of how it looks.

We were there at sunset, so I got some photos of that, but since my camera just a simple point-and-click, it doesn't look that great.

Ultimately, the parents decided that this place has some serious drawbacks: no A/C in any of the buildings, probability of bees/wasps/bugs during the wedding (we're having it during summertime), and being kind of far from where they live.

Fortunately, there are solutions for many of these concerns.

They hemmed and hawed a bit, and showed little to no enthusiasm. They all kept saying things about this being my wedding and that I should have it how I want it to be, and how the place suits me and Chris, and things like this. Good things, but no excitement, no happiness that we seemed to have found our wedding venue.

And, they all gave the so-desired thumbs-up.

So it looks like we have our wedding venue!

I am absolutely excited about it and all the possibilities that come with it.

One more step, one more decision down in me and Chris creating our perfect wedding (which will be appropriately imperfect).